I was just there. I saw a younger baby in the shopping cart by him self. Then I saw the mom walking towards him. The baby was was standing up almost fell . Mom was laughing. I turned around and made a comment “not to smart “.

I have witnessed a child fall out of a cart before, the sound of head hitting pavement is awful.When i see a child standing in the cart and the parent isnt paying attention I ask them to sit down.I dont care if the parent gets annoyed by me saying it. Hope the child is doing okay.

Good for you #7!! My daughter fell and hit her head once because I was texting, and had to be taken in an ambulance . if you are saving a parent from that horror who cares if you were considered rude. We get lazy/tired sometimes and a reminder may snap us out of it. You may get a dirty look from a oarent but hopefully they will remember what you said next time. I wish you were there to say something to me about watching my kid when I needed it (she was fine by the way).

How horrible…. when my son was around 9 months old i was grocery shopping and had him in the seat of the baskit, he was squirming all over the place and trying to reach for things on the check out counter. I thought i would settle him down by giving him a snack i had just bought, i didnt realize he had wiggled out of the seat belt, i was keeping my eyes on him and reaching back, but i couldnt feel the package. I had to turn away from him and step back to get it… in that moment he fell out of the cart… his bottom hit the counter and he went stomach first to the floor… he never passed out and started crying right away. I called the advice nurse, she was more concurned for me, who was crying hystarically. My son was fine thank God, but i still have nightmares from that day, anything can happen in a moment, you have to be so careful.

This is so sad! It’ so avoidable. I work at Costco & tell children to please sit down Nearly Every shift I work. Most times, the parents get angry with me. Frustrating, but oh well. I”ve seen a child hit the floor before & never want to see it again. Just yesterday a girl about 6yrs old stood in a basket, arms out, pretending she was surfing as she moved it back & forth. Parents a few feet away looking at vitamins. She caught eyes with me & I gave her the sit down motion. I hope the parents of the little boy weren’t allowing him to play in the cart like so many parents do. I hope this
little guy & his family can feel the prayers & support we all send out to them this evening.

“My daughter fell and hit her head once because I was texting, ”
*******This is called child endangerment – they should take your child away from you for a few weeks

“Hopefully he will be just fine and his parents and shoppers have learned a valuable lesson in shopping with kids.”
******* Doubtful

I have said things to parents about their kids hanging onto the side of carts & all I ever got was verbal abuse – next time I see this happen I should call the cops…not sure what would happen then. I see it all the time – usually less than desirable parents.

At Anon #15
How inconsiderate of you to make that comment that someone’s child needs to be taken away. You must not have children. EVERY parent makes mistakes. This was not a case of child abuse. At least this person acknowledged their mistake and I believed has learned from it.

You also have to watch them while sitting at the tables eating, my 2 year old grandson fell backwards and hit his head on the cement. I’ll never forget that sound! Dr said to keep an eye on him, thank God he was ok!

You need a license to own a dangerous firearm,
You need a license to drive 4 ton deadly vehicle,
You need a license to marry the person you chose to love,
You need a license to hunt fish and game,
You need a license to poke around people’s body parts,
You need a license to own a dog,
You need a license to run a restaurant,

You should be required to pass a minimal compentcy test, genetic screening and be able to afford a license before procreating. It would reduce the number of mouthbreathers draggin their knuckles around town.

My 4 year old grandson has been pointing out to me for quite a while (since age 3) the symbol of the child in the Costco carts with the red line over it, and he tells me that means children aren’t allowed to ride in the carts! And that’s just what it seems to say.

I’m glad that people say something to parents about their kids sitting down in the carts or behaving in general regardless of the defensive attitudes of parents these days.

When I was young, there were no seatbelts in carts. If we didn’t sit down and behave while mom was shopping, we’d get scolded or spanked. With the posts here, I really wish that parents would take more responsibility for their children and teach them how to behave. It’s very sad when accidents happen, but it’s even worse when these accidents could have been avoided.

If that is your attitude you have no business being a parent. I never, and I mean never, let my daughter alone, turned my back on her etc. Being a parent is a full time job, no matter how tired you are.

And no, I am not overprotective. She ran and played and got in trouble and fell and got hurt, but she was never alone.

Lol anon, thank you for the wonderful information. Good to know that looking away from my kids for any period of time is child endangerment. I’ll be sure to stare intently at my child next time I am shopping and just grab the items by feel.

People may verbally abuse you if you take the wrong approach, like saying something like suggesting that their kids should be taken away from them…

Anon. Wow you are sooooo quick to judge! I’m guessing you don’t have kids and if you do..then they were never ever ever hurt not one day in their whole lives right??
I was watching tv with my kiddo and she fell off the couch hit her head on the coffee table.. barely cried.. so since I was watching tv I should lose my child??
Or one time I was unloading the dishwasher and my kid was running around in the house and ran right into the wall..since I was unloading the dish washer I should lose my child?? I hope you know how dumb your comment is!

#15. It’s not that easy. You would know if you had kids. I watch my kids like a hawk in the shopping cart but my 4 year old fell down the stairs last week. You can’t be directly next to your kid 100% of the time. They need to make mistakes, that’s how they learn. If not, the may end up going onto social sites and try to get attention like you do.

Anon-shut up. Accidents do happen even to the best parents such as yourself. Kids are quick. I’ve known a few children who have fallen out of or off of a shopping cart including my own sister( and our mother is extremely paranoid).

A vast majority of being a good parent involves common sense, which appears to be lacking nowadays. From the above posts, people have witnessed the ignorance of parents allowing their children to stand in a grocery cart, and then there are the ongoing issues of leaving children in hot cars to bake to death. We’re in the 2st Century, but it appears the only thing we’ve evolved in is high-tech gadgets, meanwhile the human being appears to be going backwards.

Our prayers are with that little boy and his family. What a horrible accident…a parent’s worst nightmare that can happen in a millisecond! We were there last night when this happened. My children and I both learned a valuable lesson about riding in the shopping cart. Parents are overly distracted and in survival mode while shopping at Costco and really to not have their undivided attention on their children . My kids while be walking by my side in any grocery store for now on. Kudos to the Costco employees…they were quick to react to the accident. A lot of them pretty traumatized though.

Makes me sad because a toddler doesn’t know any better but his GD parent(s) should. Was in Conc Costco yesterday and, like every other store, sooo many kids unattended/unsupervised, as usual. Step up, parents.

costco as well as any other store has the right to ask any person to leave the store if they feel that a person is being unsafe or is being a threat to others. I myself would love to see stores start enforcing their own rules. It would make my shopping experience much better, and I would more than likely patronize their store more often.

Costco, among many other stores have become playgrounds for kids. They roam and run around unattended, meanwhile mommy and daddy are clueless. It starts with the parents who should be telling their kids how to act and behave in stores and how to sit properly in a grocery cart. If this was instilled to begin with, these types of accidents would not happen.

we have been shopping with Costco since the 70s in San diego when it was known as Price club…yeah we are old lol….At that time parents were warned as they entered..”this is a wharehouse and unless you keep your children under control you will be asked to leave”…..needless to say people were very aware of what their child was doing. NO kids running around and all that. Was nice. Our kids were very small at the time and its too bad they dont enforce this now.

A friend of my offspring fell out of a shopping cart when she was about 3. Her mother had wandered away from the cart. The child’s head smacked the hard floor and she experienced brain damage. This person now cannot live alone, cannot drive or work and lost a chance at a productive life all because of an inattentive parent. The mother still blames the child for reaching for something on a nearby shelf when it was totally her fault!

I remember I saw this kid standing up in the cart that was right next to me and the mom was a few feet away. The kids never think they are going to fall. I smiled at the kid and gently said to him, “I know you probably won’t fall, but if you do by accident and you crack the floor, who is going to fix the floor? You? I know you don’t want to fix the floor do you?” His mom looked at me with amazement and the kid sat right down. She said she’s been trying to get him to sit down the whole time. As she was leaving, she kept repeating to him, “We don’t want to crack the floor, good boy!” LOL

@15 Anon : I did learn my lesson and my point was to WARN others it only takes a second, and also to encourage others to speak up if they see something dangerous. You are a jerk. I was actually on the same couch as my daughter in a waiting room, I didn’t leave her alone, and was sending a 5 word text to my husband about the doc appointment.
@16 Lady M: thank you for being sensitive, and yes I did learn my lesson. Thank you.
@22….I agree…..did you not see my point? It is hard and everyone lapses for a second here or there. Being a parent is a LOT of work, and I am saying I welcome strangers to point it out to me because we are human and I doubt YOU are perfect yourself. How about we help and encourage each other instead of being so judgemental? I wasn’t smoking crack with her on a highway overpass for crying out loud.

#42 posting pretty much states the parent’s inability to discipline and have their child behave, and sit properly in a grocery cart. And, because of this, her kid potentially could have been severely hurt. Parents need to wake up and stop letting their kids run the show.

i will normally hesitate for no more, than just a moment or two, when i witness a child standing in a grocery cart, as i am waiting for the parent, and/or store employee to intradict, in this said, very few moment time frame, I readily, position myself close to this cart.
i have also witness parents, who give their children rides on top of their shoulders, without securely holding onto the child’s legs; “accidents just waiting to happen”. “i forgot and left my child in the car”, “i just walked away from the swimming pool area for just a moment”, etc., etc., etc… when it comes to standing tenaciously vigilant safeguarding the welfare of lives that are dependent on us, our children, our wildlife, our planet, THERE ARE NO ACCCIDENTS.

I hope that the child is all right tonight and didn’t suffer any permanent brain damage.

I think it is interesting to see the number of people on these comments who are actually saying nice things, and realizing how hard it is to be a parent. Trying to be supportive and not “JUDGE, JURY and EXECUTIONER”

It is difficult to see a parent who is “not minding the kids” when you’re in a store. My youngest is in High School, but I have grand kids and I remember how impulsive kids are, even in the best of care. But we should continue to speak up (or to tell the kid they’ll break the floor, I love people who do things like this in the store, sometimes kids will only listen to strangers (it gets worse when they are teenagers!).

Finally, those of you who made vicious mean comments to each other in these comments, shame on you, get a life.

Working many years in a grocery store people tend to lose track and or ignore kids. It’s not a safe place for un watched kids. I pray this child is ok, but another very sad loud wake up call for parents, leave them home with someone if you can’t watch them thoroughly!

This new fear-mongering and incessant disasters and dangers lurking around every corner… children MUST be watched VIGILANTLY at ALL times.

No. This isn’t how it ALWAYS was. NO, our world isn’t “more dangerous” unless you are taking into account the creation of weapons of mass destruction and really fellow parents- what ARE you going to do to protect your kids from those? NO, children’s rates of being murdered and kidnapped by strangers isn’t on the rise. NO, no no no no!

MY kids will be taught to be problem-solving, self-reliant, free, adventuresome, RESPONSIBLE, and independent as they wish. That means it’s ok for them to RIDE to school, CLIMB A TREE, PLAY on a playground unattended every moment. Sure, wear helmets. Sure be mindful, look out and use your head. 100% of the earth’s children fall.

Disagree? That’s fine. Get in my face, that’s fine. Call CPS over a non-emergent, non-neglectful-direct-harm-inducing situation? YOU very well may BE the child’s BIGGEST abuser. There are and have been nightmare scenarios. IF you see a kid that REALLY is in danger, stop and help or just keep a watchful eye. If a parent was unaware, KINDLY and politely inform them. You don’t need to JUDGE them or SCOLD them. MAYBE your sense of “danger” is exaggerated. Just driving my kids to school endangers them tremendous compared to so many other relative risks!

And just because a child is hurt- under the care of a parent or other guardian doesn’t make them STUPID or neglectful. Baring a child with osteogenesis imperfecta or some other difficult and delicate medical condition, hypervigilance is unwarranted and the effects of “scared sally” parenting becoming pervasive in this society and it’s HARMFUL effects on kids as they age, is just as bad.